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NOVEMBER 2015

THE FIRST Minister made a fes-tive visit this month to the High-land Children’s Unit at Raigmore Hospital.

During her visit she was able to get a tour of the unit that opened earlier this year.

As part of the tour Nicola Sturgeon met representatives from NHS High-

land and the Archie Foundation. The representative were able to tell

her all about the unit, how it works, as well as the fundraising campaign behind it that helped towards its construction.

The ward opened in May this year after a long running fund-raising cam-

Highlights THE NHS HIGHLAND STAFF NEWSPAPER December 2016

HIGHLAND CHILDREN’S UNIT

Give a dog a (hip)

bone...

Unit receives festive

visit from first minister

Continued on page 2

Find out on page 5 why Wil-liam (above) should have a Happy New Year

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Contents

Xmas tree donations

At your Service

Jackie’s beast of a race

Unsung herroes

Anorexia treatment success

Comings & Goings

Smoke-free charter signed

Twiddlemuff campaign

Other lives: Vicky Doughty

Q&A: Ella Low

First minister’s visit Help us to fight loneliness and

social isolation. Check out: http://www.reachout.scot.nhs.uk

paign by the Foundation that started in 2011.

Altogether, the Archie Founda-tion contributed £2 million towards the construction of the unit.

Ms Sturgeon also took the time

to visit the patients in the ward, and have a chat with them and their fami-lies before giving them all a Christ-mas gift.

The First MInister, pictured here with some of the unit’s patients, said the new unit was “fantastic” and a testament to the public’s generosity.

Continued from front

‘ ’

...the new unit

was ‘fantastic’ and a testament

to the public’s generosity

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A WIDE variety of organisations who have signed up to NHS High-land’s Reach Out campaign held a number of events across the High-lands and Argyll & Bute to help provide support to those who found themselves lonely or isolated over the Christmas period.

‘Reach Out – Make a difference for someone who’s lonely’ was launched by the board back in January to combat social isolation and loneliness.

Such is the impact of loneliness as a significant public health issue that the NHS Highland has made it a key focus in 2017. The move follows a report by Professor Hugo van Woerden’s, NHS Highland’s director of public health in November.

As part of this focus, staff, members of the public, companies and various organisations are invited to complete a Reach Out ‘pledge’ form in which they will undertake to carry out a task of their choosing to help address loneli-ness within the community.

These tasks can include anything from just chatting to an elderly neighbour twice a week to organising a social event or social opportunities for lonely people

The following is just a small list of organisations who reached out to lonely people this Christmas by organising social events:

Smithton Church had a Living Better (with a long term condition) Christmas Party on 8th December that offered traditional party games, food, fun and laughter.

Drakies Primary School had their annual Christmas Fayre on the same day. Then on 15th December held a spe-cial Christmas version of their Commu-nity Café (pictured above).

The school have been amazing am-bassadors for the Reach Out campaign, not only for hosting the launch but also the subsequent messages of support and

continuing to raise awareness both on social media and in the local press.

Contin Community Trust / Contin Community Centre had two Christmas parties. For seniors there was a party on Saturday 10th December and for children there was another party on Sunday 18th December.

Inverness Men's Shed had their Christmas Lunch for all Shed members on 13th December at the Dunbar Cen-tre on Church Street.

Ormlie Community Association had a 'Silver Chefs - Cooking for One' after-noon class on 14th December that of-fered hints and tips on cooking for one person but also providing a chance for people to socialise.

Boat of Garten Community Hall hosted their community Christmas lunch on the 20th December.

Liz’s Diner on Rothesay, delivered ready-made Christmas dinners for eld-erly folk on Christmas Eve that were very much appreciated.

And the HOPE Kitchen in Oban was open on Christmas Day, offering sup-port to those who found themselves alone on the day and provided turkey sandwiches, hot drinks and mince pies.

The Reach Out pledge form is avail-able online – on NHS Highland’s web-site, and on social media platforms such as Twitter and a dedicated Facebook page – and can be downloaded.

More information on the campaign c a n b e f o u n d a t www.reachout.scot.nhs.uk.

Pledge signers provide support

for the lonely over Xmas period

S taff on Ward 3A, Raigmore Hospital, pictured round

their tree with just some of the gifts that they have donated so their patients could all have a gift to open on Christmas Day.

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CHRISTMAS 2016

Christmas tree donations

bring festive cheer for all

NHS HIGHLANDS has been fortunate enough this year to receive a number of dona-tions in the run up to Christ-mas to help bring some fes-tive cheer to various areas for both patients and staff to en-joy:

Pictured here (clockwise from top left) are just some of them: Town and County – donated by Tesco in the Community, Wick Broadford – some of the staff on Skye decorating the tree do-nated by the Broadford Commu-nity Trust Highland’s Children’s Unit, Raig-more – the decorated tree at the Children’s Unit donated by the Co-op Highland’s Children’s Unit, Raig-more – just as the tree and some festive gifts for the children were delivered by the Co-op Belford – decorated by our vol-unteers with a Nativity scene Raigmore Hospital – donated by Dobbie the 10th reindeer with Santa Claus in attendance Caithness General Hospital– this year put up by the CGH re-ception staff Meanwhile, the emergency depart-ment at Raigmore Hospital re-ceived a Christmas surprise when a hamper was dropped off from staff at the Tesco store on Tom-nahurich Street, Inverness.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the department, so the A&E staff were all delighted with this lovely gesture.

And they were keen to send a festive “Thank You” to the Tesco staff for their timely and generous gift.

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AN NHS Highland care home has raised thousands of pounds to al-low a special resident to undergo a hip operation.

Earlier this year, Invernevis House in Fort William welcomed a canine companion named William after a social media campaign to find a four-legged friend for the residents.

He settled in to his new surround-ings and has become a firm favourite with the residents and staff who have raised £8,000 to enable him to have his operation in the New Year.

Invernevis House manager Kit Cam-eron said: “William is a huge favourite with the residents here and puts a smile on everyone’s face. However, it hasn’t always been a life full of love for Wil-liam.

“He was rescued from Cyprus by a family from Keith through the Give a Dog a Bone charity and was unable to find a suitable home before arriving here. William had a hard start to his life and this has resulted in one or two health issues since he arrived at In-

vernevis. It became apparent that he needed an operation on his hip, and we looked to the local community for help.

“The residents and staff organised a race night and a sponsored walk along the West Highland Way in a bid to raise the money, and the community have been very generous.”

William, who is five, is set to have his operation in February; however he needs to be clear of an ongoing infec-tion for at least a month before it can take place.

“We are going to take good care of William over the festive period,” Mrs Cameron continued. “We have a lot of exciting activities planned for Christmas and William will play a big part in them. We will hopefully have him fighting fit in time for his operation.

“I want to say a huge thank you to the local community for their generous donations for William’s operation – we couldn’t have done it without their help.

“I would also like to thank Crown vet and Happi Dogs in Fort William for

their continued support and sponsor-ship for William.

“William is a big part of our family here and we are all delighted that he is scheduled for his operation. We look forward to nursing him back to full health in the New Year.”

SPECIAL CARE HOME RESIDENT

Community dig deep to give William hip-op

CHILDREN WHO will be patients in the Highlands Children’s Unit at Raigmore Hospital over Christ-mas will have an extra surprise this year thanks to the British Le-gion bikers. Pictured right are the bikers delivering the presents to the unit so that children can have some fun on Christmas day.

Bikers deliver

presents for

Christmas

CHILDREN’S UNIT

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TOWN & COUNTY GARDEN

Memory garden comes

over all festive this Xmas

STAFF AND patients at the Town and County hospital in Wick have come over all festive this month thanks to a number of donations and visits from the community.

Lights, decorations and carol sing-ers are just a few of the things the hospital has received or been visited by over the past couple of weeks and continued right up until Christmas.

Iain McHardy, acting senior charge nurse for the hospital, said: “We’re expecting to have most of our patients with us on Christmas Day so where possible we try and bring some festive cheer to the hospital and involve the families as much as we can.

“It’s quite a relaxed atmosphere here throughout the year anyway as we do what we can to make it as like home as possible. But the past couple of weeks have really taken off in terms of the donations coming in and the visitors we have been getting.

“Christmas has certainly come to the hospital and once again we have been overwhelmed with how gener-ous the local community have been.”

Tesco in the Community have do-nated a tree complete with decora-tions which has taken pride of place in the hospital and is receiving many ad-miring glances from patients, staff and visitors.

The local TSB branch, who have made the hospital their charity of the year, raised funds throughout the year which has allowed them to buy Christmas lights for the hospital’s memory garden. They also supplied cds with Christmas music, crackers and general goodies which have been given to the ward and they recently held a tea party, complete with carol singers, for the patients which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Santa himself has also made an

appearance thanks to John Farquhar, a porter based at Caithness General Hospital, who made them a tractor complete with its very own Santa. This is now on display in the memory garden and has become quite a talking point.

The local Beaver group from 1st

Wick Scouts also visited the ward earlier this month to sing Christmas carols.

This was thoroughly enjoyed by the patients, staff and the beavers who are looking forward to coming back next year.

Above: Santa on his

tractor

Left: Santa with his

more traditional sleigh

Right:

Three

polar

bears

stroll by

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Well attended reunions for former colleagues

A NUMBER of reun-ions have taken place over the last year for retired nurses from the Black Isle.

Organised by Angela MacDonald, from For-trose, these were well attended events and thor-oughly enjoyed by all. Pho-tographs courtesy: Lewis Mackenzie photography

BLACK ISLE

NHS HIGHLAND has been recognised for supporting carers in the workplace.

The health board received a Carer Positive award for en-gaging with a Scottish Government-funded initiative aimed at encouraging employers to create a supportive working envi-ronment for carers in the workplace.

NHS Highland director of adult care Jan Baird said: “We are delighted to be involved with this initiative to support carers in the workplace.

“It can sometimes be difficult to balance work with caring responsibilities and we recognise that supporting employees to manage this can have a positive outcome for both col-leagues and the organisation as a whole.

“This is only the start and we will continue to develop our policies and practice to further support NHS Highland em-ployees who care for a loved one.”

Over 260,000 employees across Scotland are working in awarded organisations to date.

AWARD

Board recognised for carer support

Carer Positive Awards manager Sue McLintock (left) pre-sents the Carer Positive award to NHS Highland’s Jan Baird

Above inset: Former colleagues of the Black Isle Primary Health Care Team Left: Former nurses from Ross shire gather for a 30th anniversary reunion with their old colleagues at the Nurses League of Inverness Hospitals event

Above: Retired district nurses from Ross shire at Kingsmill

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AT YOUR SERVICE

NHS Highland is running a series of articles which puts the spotlight on people who work in health and social care across our area. Answering the questions this month is the lead advisor for adult support and protection, Christine Macleod.

’ ‘ Adult sup-port and protection is about the most vulnerable people in our com-munities

Christine Macleod: NHS Highland’s lead advisor for adult support and

protection

Q. What does your job involve? It’s quite a varied role that centres on Adult Support and Protection (ASP). There are a number of aspects to the strategic part of my job such as writing procedures, risk assess-ments and policies, reporting relevant issues to the Adult Support and Protection Committee and being responsible for ensuring that agreed strategy and actions are communicated to groups and individuals.

A big part of my job is the advisory role where I am contacted by social workers, team managers and other professionals in relation to more complex cases surrounding ASP. I am also involved in ASP training. Q. How long have you been in your role and what attracted you to the position? A. I’ve worked as lead advisor for ASP with NHS Highland since April 2016. I have been a social worker for the best part of twenty years, and I felt I needed a fresh challenge. Prior to this role, I was seconded to work with the po-lice setting up a new pathway for adult concern referrals, and this increased my knowledge of ASP work which really interested me. Q. We often hear of child protection, but less of adult protection. What does it in-volve? The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 is legislation introduced by the Scot-tish Government to support and protect adults that are more vulnerable from the risk of harm. The Act places a range of duties to intervene and make inquiries or investigate where an adult may be at risk of harm.

The Act delegates a range of powers and duties to a specifically trained social worker to enable them to inquire and investigate. The Act

sets out very clear principles which must take into account the adults wishes and feelings. There is always a balance to be struck between enabling people to have choice and control over their lives and ensuring they are free from harm. Q. What adults are most at risk of harm? A. There are may people who don’t have sup-port or for various reasons are not able to safe-guard or protect themselves. Adult support and protection is about the most vulnerable people in our communities, so that may be people with mental ill-health, learning difficulties or older people, although it’s important to stress that just because people may fall into these catego-ries doesn’t mean they are at risk – they may be very capable of protecting themselves and have support around them. Q. What type of harm are they at risk from? A. It can be harm of any form: emotional, physical, sexual, self-neglect or financial. Finan-cial harm is an issue that has appeared quite a lot recently, where people are being targeted through various scams, whether that be online, over the phone or at their doorstep. Further-more, in some instances relatives and friends can be guilty of this type of harm, however this can be harder to identify as people are less likely to speak-up about it and alienate their families. Q. How are people able to report any concerns they may have to the relevant authorities? There are various ways including speaking to a relative or friend and we have a Highland Adult

Continued on next page

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AT YOUR SERVICE

Support and Protection Helpline (0800 902 0042) where people can phone in confidence, and anonymously if they wish, to raise con-cerns. However, if there is to be a follow-up inquiry or investigation we need as much detail as possible. Social work teams in Highland and across Scotland have a duty to inquire into every case where there is concern of harm. Concerns can also be expressed to the local social work office or police. Q. Given that the Act is relatively new, how are relevant staff trained in ASP? A. We have an ASP trainer who delivers train-ing to all professionals and carers, and we are planning to roll-out training to service users in the near future. Training is a big part of our role in the ASP team in NHS Highland. Our trainer is out most days delivering training to teams across Highland. We cover the whole of Highland and have a training calendar with a variety or training programmes that staff can research and apply for. Q. Why is adult support and protection such an important issue? Everyone has a right to live a life free from harm, exploitation and mistreatment and there are things that can be done to protect those who aren’t. That is where we come in; we will work with the individual and investigate and put the least restrictive plans in place to try and protect that person. As a society, we all have a responsibility to protect vulnerable people, whether they are children or adults, from all forms of harm and neglect. Q. Which organisations are represented

in the Adult Support and Protection Committee?

The committee is headed by an independent chair that isn’t associated to any organisation, and consists of senior figures from organisa-tions such as Police Scotland, Highland Council, NHS Highland and Advocacy. The Committee is responsible for monitoring and advising on adult protection procedures and practice, en-suring there is appropriate co-operation be-tween agencies and making sure staff involved in ASP work have the skills and knowledge re-quired to undertake their work in relation to supporting and protecting adults. There are a series of sub-groups, such as an improvement group, that sit beneath the committee that oversee issues such as social work recording processes and financial harm. Q. What are the most rewarding ele-ments of your role? My role allows me to make a real difference to people’s lives, and I like to hear where the legis-lation has worked and people are feeling safer and living a more comfortable life. However, we need to get the word out to more people – to let service users, carers, families and profes-sionals know that help and support is available. Q. How do you switch off from the pres-sures of your job? I’m married with three children, so I don’t have much free time! My three boys always need dropped-off at some sports club, but when I’m not driving around Inverness I love to keep fit by running. I am very lucky that I have a won-derful family and I’m able to switch off from my work.

Continued from previous page

‘

’

Everyone has a right to live a life free from harm, ex-ploitation and mis-treatment and there

are things that can be done to pro-tect those who aren’t

T he T Bar at the Belford Hospital has presented a cheque for £5,000

towards purchasing equipment for patients during their stay in hospital.

Betty Campbell and her team raised the money through their work in the Fort William Hospital cafe.

Fiona McGeachan, NHS Highland’s business support manager (west) said: “On behalf of the hospital staff I would like to thank the ladies for this gener-ous donation, for the hard work they do all year round and their continued support.

FORT WILLIAM

Holding the cheque (left to right) are: Betty Campbell, Christine Dennis and Karen MacMillan (charge nurse for A&E) Courtesy: Abrightside Photography

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Jackie does ‘beast race’ to help fight against the

‘stigma’ of mental illness

NEW CRAIGS

CAITHNESS GENERAL staff nurse Jackie McKay pushed herself out of her comfort zone this year by taking part in the “Beast Race” and raised an amazing £2,500 for the Morar Ward at New Craigs Hospital in Inverness.

She said: “A close family member is affected by a mental health illness which has had a huge impact on all of us. I have witnessed the turmoil and the trauma my family member has to go through and the stigma people with mental ill-ness have to face.

“Depending on type and severity of illness patients could be detained in a ward environment for weeks, months at a time 24 hours a day. An average ad-mission could be three to six months or sometimes up to a year.”

The Beast Race, which is on the banks of Loch Ness, is described as “a leg-numbing 10k... through dense forest, undergrowth, heather and bog, on rough dirt tracks” and with obstacles thrown in, it is a challenge not for the faint hearted. But Jackie found herself enjoying the event.

Jackie said: “It was a fantastic day and I thoroughly enjoyed taking part and completing every obstacle even though some were a bit daunting. I felt quite emotional at the finish.

“Following discussions with staff it was agreed that the money will be used to buy items that will help alleviate boredom, aid relaxation, and provide extra comforts within the ward environ-ment.”

Jackie was able to buy a number of items including a bike, televisions, DVD players, and tablets. She also bought furniture for the courtyard, a sensory

light, guitar, and even some toiletries. Her friend, Wendy Sutherland also al-lowed her to use some of her photo-graphs which will be printed.

Jackie said: “I would like to thank everyone who donated to my fundrais-ing, their generosity has totally over-whelmed me.

Stuart Hickie, staff nurse at New Craigs Hospital, said: “I would like to offer Jackie the sincerest message of

gratitude for the generosity and com-mitment shown to raise money which will be used to enhance our service and will directly benefit patients in care.

“Public attitudes towards mental health have shown great improvements in recent years however, there remains more work to be done and I believe that shared experiences such as Jackie’s help in ending the problem of ill mental health stigma and discrimination.”

Jackie McKay and Stuart Hickie with the donated bike, just one of the many items that she bought for the ward

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Alcohol Brief Interventions Training

This free, interactive session will allow you to become

familiar with the FAST screening tool and a brief

intervention to support adults to make healthy choices

around alcohol.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Open a conversation about alcohol with an individual • Use appropriate screening tools to assess risk and

feedback relevant information to individuals about the potential effects of drinking on their health and wellbeing

• Motivate the individual to change their drinking behaviour and explore strategies to reduce consumption and alcohol-related harm

• Close the conversation and know how to signpost or refer individuals on to other services, if appropriate.

Date: 8th February 2017

Time: 1.00pm – 4.30pm

Venue: UNISON House, 53 Shore Street, Inverness

Open to all staff

If you wish to book a place please contact: MARTA CHABA

UNISON Regional Learning and Development Organiser

UNISON, 53 Shore Street, Inverness, IV1 1NF

m.chaba@unison.co.uk Mobile: 07950889765

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CHRISTMAS DAY

WOMEN’S AID

CASWA uses Christmas Carol theme WOMEN, CHILDREN and young people accessing Caithness and Sut her l a n d W om e n ’ s A id (CASWA) are hoping to raise awareness about the service by sharing their Christmas past, pre-sent and future.

Based on the theme of “A Christ-mas Carol”, the displays at libraries in Wick, Thurso and Brora depict what is it is like living with domestic abuse (Christmas past or present), what life is like with support (Christmas present) and hopes of what life will be like in the future (Christmas future).

Emma Fraser, Team Leader for CASWA, explained that the displays illustrate the experiences of children, young people and women as well as the support that they receive.

She said: “The displays are excellent visual tools which portray the impact that domestic abuse has. The project to develop these displays using artwork and words provided by those accessing our services has been warmly wel-comed and gives an insight into what they have gone or are going through and how support can help.

“We hope they achieve their aim of raising awareness of the impact of do-mestic abuse and the support service that we provide to women, children and young people.”

Gillian Gunn, Highland Violence Against Women partnership's (VAW) manager, said: “It’s really important to recognise the impact of domestic abuse doesn’t disappear when an abusive rela-tionship ends and that women, children

and young people can access services even if the abuse was in the past.

“The campaign by CASWA during this Christmas period is also really positive as it also emphasises the future – women, children and young people can and do recover from their experi-ences of domestic abuse and services like CASWA are vital in this. We hope that by running this campaign, women, children and young people in the Caith-ness and Sutherland area who have been affected by domestic abuse and who wish to access support services will get in touch with CASWA.”

For more information or referral forms, got to: www.caswa.org.uk For copies of posters or leaflets contact CASWA on 0345 408 0151 or info@caswa.org.uk

WITH A staff establishment of approximately 3,500 and hundreds of people coming through the door every day, Raigmore Hospital in Inverness can never be classed as a quiet place.

Staff in many departments work together to care for patients. Some, such as the hospitals’ nurses and doc-tors, are easy to see. But there are many who work in the background who play an important - but not as well known - role in the day-to-day running of the hospital.

For instance, security at the hospital is provided on a 24/7 basis and the team of ten security officers are an integral part of the Raigmore team.

Crawford Howat, hotel services manager for Raigmore, said: “Security staff are an essential part of the team. Their day to day work can vary depend-ing on what is happening but their key

roles are to provide assistance and sup-port to staff in dealing with all incidents of violent and aggressive behaviour as well as patrolling the site and monitor-ing CCTV.

“They have a close working relation-ship with all departments which helps ensure that any incidents are dealt with in a safe, sensitive and professional man-ner.”

With approximately 1,800 security incidents per year as well as their rou-tine tasks the team are kept busy every day of the year and that includes over the festive period.

Garry Forbes has worked in security for the past four years and has worked every Christmas since he started.

He said: “It is slightly quieter over Christmas but you never know what the day can bring. I’ll come in at 8am and do a handover with the night shift team. On average there are about five

to six incidents per day that we can get called to, you can’t put the pager or the radio down and you have to be ready to go if you’re called to a situation.

“Christmas has just become like another day to me now as I’ve worked the last few. I’ll celebrate Christmas with my children on Boxing Day.

“At the end of the day we work in a hospital, it is always open and it is our job to ensure that the building and site is as safe and secure as it can be for our patients, staff and visitors.”

Unsung heroes help

keep hospital safe

Above: Garry Forbes

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NHS HIGHLAND has had remark-able success in treating young pa-tients with an eating disorder be-cause of an innovative project that saw them being cared for in their own homes.

One of the challenges the board faces in treating anorexia nervosa in children and young people is its geo-graphically large area. In total, the area covered by NHS Highland represents 12 per cent of the UK mainland.

To meet this challenge - especially the problems with associated travel - over the past two years NHS Highland’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) has combined family-based treatment (FBT) for anorexia nervosa with quick responses to refer-rals to treat far more children at home.

As a result, CAMHS has seen in-patient bed use decrease dramatically.

In March 2015, a revised care path-way was introduced to streamline its response to anorexia nervosa referrals and this was incorporated with family-

based treatment (FBT) as its first line approach.

When a young person with anorexia is referred, often their parents are ex-hausted and frustrated by the argu-ments about food.

Family approaches have always been the cornerstone of treatment for ano-rexia nervosa.

FBT is a standardised, evidence-based treatment that acknowledges that parents know best how to feed their child, because they have done it suc-cessfully for all of the young person’s life. By supporting the parents at meal-times at home, the CAMHS team help restore their confidence.

Dr Craig Mearns, clinical lead for CAMHS, said: “For example, we ar-ranged a specialist assessment six days after receiving a primary care referral, before treating the young person at home using FBT over a six month pe-riod, with the young person’s weight for height percentage rising to over 95 per cent.”

Using FBT has led to a decrease in the time that the young people -classified as ‘Tier 4’ with the most com-plex, severe and persistent problems - spend as patients.

“Where FBT, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and other recommended interventions for eating disorders at home proves unsuitable or ineffective, we have an option to use in-patient beds at the Dudhope Young People’s Unit in Dundee as part of the North of Scotland Regional CAMHS Network,” he added.

In addition, a network liaison nurse works closely with the nurses, psy-chologists and psychiatrists who form the core of the ‘Tier 4’ team, so ena-bling smooth transitions between hospi-tal and home.

By taking this FBT/referral pathway approach, CAMHS has seen monthly bed usage fall from an average of over 100 days in August 2014 to an average below ten days per month for October 2016.

CAMHS

Success for ‘at home’ Anorexia care

A SERVICE funded by NHS Highland and the Highland Council is ensuring those living in remote areas of the north of Scotland have safer homes.

The Handyperson Service sees Donnie Morrison from the Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association ensure that all clients receive a fair, equitable and person-centred service no matter where they live.

The Handyperson Service provides aids to daily living from the council’s Community Equipment Stores, Tele-care and DIY jobs for the elderly, to help people remain in their own home by making them safer and more suit-able to their needs.

Donnie Morrison (right) setting off from a pier to one of the nearby islands which has no ferry access.

SKYE

Donnie’s skills come in handy

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DR KATH Jones started her new role as clinical director for the north and west operational unit this month.

Kath - who will be based at the N&W headquarters in Larachan House, Dingwall - started on 12th December.

She qualified as a GP in 2002 and between 2007 to 2013 she was a GP partner in a lively inner city practice in Liverpool.

In 2013, she took some time out to explore the Scottish Islands as a GP locum with her young family.

On returning to Liverpool in 2014 she was appointed as the medical lead for the Liverpool GP out-of-hours care provider.

Throughout her career, Kath has juggled a diverse range of other roles. Most recently she has undertaken a comprehensive review of the effective-ness of telephone consultations at a large practice with over 38,000 patients, looking at ways to better utilise GP re-ceptionists as patient care navigators.

Outside work Kath and her husband compete to complete the slowest triath-lon. Their two young children and giant Bernese Mountain Dog are all very ex-cited about the move.

COMINGS & GOINGS

NHS HIGHLAND has confirmed that David Park has been appointed to the post of director of operations of the board’s Inner Moray Firth Op-erational Unit (IMFOU).

David will be joining the IMFOU senior management team early in the New Year.

David, who lives on the Black Isle, has previously worked for LifeScan and John-son and Johnson in Inverness, where he was latterly the director of external op-erations.

With a masters degree in Lean Enter-prise from the University of Buckingham, David has considerable experience in the use of improvement methodologies within the healthcare industry, both for running and improving the business.

Elaine Mead, CEO of NHS Highland said: “I am sure you will join me in wel-coming David to NHS Highland and will support him through his induction period and thereafter.”

Kath takes on clinical role

Senior manager appointed

DR KANAKO Yoshida joined NHS Highland last month as a consultant in rheumatology. Dr Yoshida com-pleted her training at NHS Gram-pian and is looking forward to work-ing in a dynamic rheumatology team at NHS Highland, having re-cent experience as an acting-up consultant at Aberdeen Royal Infir-mary.

AFTER 41years of working at Raig-more Hospital Donald MacLeod, assistant nurse manager for the surgical division, retired this month.

He started work as an auxiliary in 1975, and was best known to many as the former senior charge nurse for Ward 4A before taking on his assistant manager role in 2013.

Donald, who will be very much missed by all who knew and worked with him, often said he wanted a dog once he retired. At his farewell do, a surprise presentation was made making him the proud owner of a spaniel puppy next month.

Consultant arrives

Donald retires

- 15 -

TWO COURSES on NHS Research Scotland’s good clinical practice are to be held at the Centre for Health Science, Raigmore in February.

The NRS Introduction to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) will be held on Thursday 9th February 2017 be-tween 10am – 5pm.

A NRS Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Update -for those who have already attended an Introduction Course and are refreshing their knowledge every two years – will be held on Wednesday 15th Febru-ary 2017 between 10am – 1pm.

Both courses will be presented by NHS Highland’s RD&I Manager Frances Hines, and clinical research nurse, Lesley Patience.

All staff involved in clinical trials are recommended to undertake good clinical practice (also known as good research practice) training, and ensure that their GCP knowl-edge is updated every two years.

People interested in applying for either of these courses should email: chloe.thomson2@nhs.net

NHS HIGHLAND’S Chronic Pain Management Service is holding a study day on Medical and Non-Medical Approaches for Manage-ment of Non-Malignant Chronic Pain.

The day is for all health profes-sionals including GPs, Medical Staff, Nurses, Pharmacists, Physiothera-pists, Occupational Therapists.

The programme includes: Psychological approaches to chronic pain management Ways of delivering pain manage-ment programmes Appropriate use of opioid medica-tion And a discussions panel and ques-tion time

For more info please see at-

t a c h e d f l y e r o r c o n t a c t

THE FRIENDS of Town and County Hospital Garden have received a boost via a donation of £1,500 from the team delivering the Caithness-Moray transmis-sion project.

Staff from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and lead contractor ABB took part in a charity golf event earlier in the year. The event gave each team the chance to win fund-ing for a good cause and the hospital garden project was nominated by SSEN’s team.

The Friends of Town and County Hospital Garden have been harnessing the support of local businesses and vol-unteers to make the garden space at the hospital a therapeutic, enjoyable, acces-sible space for patients, their relatives and friends.

Iain McHardy, acting senior charge nurse for the hospital, said: “This is a fantastic sum of money that has been donated and it will really benefit the work we are trying to do with our mem-ory garden.

“The garden has certainly come on over the past year but there is still a lot

of work we would like to do. This in-cludes getting a summer house which, given the Caithness weather, will allow our patients to enjoy the garden no mat-ter rain or shine.

“Huge thanks to all who took part in the charity event and for thinking of us at Town and County. It’s a very gener-ous donation.”

Lorna Plowman from SSEN’s project team went along to the hospital to hand over the donation.

Lorna said: “We are delighted that we are able to support a project which is so close to the heart of the community in Caithness. We hope our donation will help towards the goal of adding a sum-mer house so even more people can benefit from the revamped garden area.”

Teri Nicolson of ABB added: “The SSEN and ABB teams are very grateful for the way in which local residents, land-owners and businesses have worked with us over the last couple of years. We’re really pleased to be able to contribute to something which will make a big differ-ence to the community for many years.

(Left to right): Teri Nicolson of ABB; Rachel Guy, Cristian Neculau, Ann Wilson and Vera Campbell from T&C Hospital; and Lorna Plowman of SSEN

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Electricity companies

give garden a boost

FUNDRAISING

February courses

at CfHS planned

Chronic pain

Study day

- 16 -

NHS HIGHLAND has pledged sup-port for a national campaign to help make Scotland tobacco-free.

The board signed up to Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-free Generation, an initiative developed by campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Scotland on 12th December.

The ASH-led charter is designed to support organisations working with young people and families to meet the Scottish Government’s goal of being tobacco-free - having 5 per cent or fewer of Scotland’s adults smoking - by 2034.

The year was chosen because a child born in 2013, the year the target was set, will celebrate their 21st birthday in 2034.

By signing the charter, NHS Highland has signalled its commitment to reach this goal by providing practical and emo-tional support to vulnerable adults and young people to help them quit.

NHS Highland plans to further de-velop its Highland Smoke Free Service, and also add addition resources and programmes to support the strategy.

Eve MacLeod, a health improvement specialist (Tobacco and Substance Mis-use) for NHS Highland said: “We pro-vide the Highland Smoke Free Service via health improvement advisers and via community pharmacies, offering help to those that want to quit or cut down to

quit, including pregnant women and young people.

“In addition, the Highland Smoke Free Homes and Cars Pledge comprises a unique four tiered approach to achiev-ing a smoke-free home and car. Along-side this, we promote the ‘Take it Right Outside’ campaign, and have been rais-ing awareness of the new smoke-free cars legislation that was introduced in December.

“My colleague, senior health im-provement specialist Susan Birse, has led, developed and implemented the ‘Smoke Free Sports’ campaign that is backed by local Scottish Premiership side Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. To create awareness for ‘Smoke Free Sports’ we recently held a logo design

competition with the Inverness Royal Academy. The winning logo is now worn on the football strips of Highland Street League teams.

NHS Highland also provides support through its Highland Substance Misuse Toolkit which provides resources and information on all types of drugs, includ-ing tobacco, for young people, parents and carers, and professionals.

Eve added: “As part of the Highland Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (HADP) we also support Rock Challenge, a diver-sionary activity presented by Be Your Best Foundation, that encourages young people to lead healthy lifestyles and to be their best without the need for to-bacco, alcohol or other drugs.”

Eve said that NHS Highland now plans to increase its efforts to discour-age smoking by: Extend ‘Smoke Free Sports’ to other sports throughout the Highland area Encourage other organisations to sign up to the Charter Encourage use of Charter resources via our Highland Substance Misuse Tool-kit

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “We’re encouraging or-ganisations from across sectors to get behind this important initiative and wel-come NHS Highland in joining us in our work towards a generation free from tobacco.”

Board signs smoke-free charter

HEALTH IMPROVEMENT

SUTHERLAND & CAITHNESS

LOCAL PEOPLE across the north will now have access to trained leaders in chair-based exercise and Otago thanks to training and assessment coordi-nated by Helmsdale-based Dementia Friendly Com-munities.

The training and assessment was delivered by Killin-based Later Life Training between June and November. Chair-based exercise helps those with mobility issues to keep active, while Otago prevents falls by improving strength and balance.

Participants from a range of settings undertook the training, which it is hoped will benefit a number

of residents of Sutherland and Caithness. Those who received the training are based at the

Helmsdale Hub, Seaforth House care home in Gol-spie, Melvich Community Care Unit, North Coast Leisure Centre in Bettyhill, the Bradbury Centre in Bonar Bridge and the Brora Village Hub.

The training was funded by Dementia Friendly Communities as part of the 8 Pillar Model of Com-munity Support, which was tested in Helmsdale from 2014-2016. This project was a collaboration between Dementia Friendly Communities, NHS Highland and the Scottish Government.

Exercise classes available for residents

- 17 -

SUTHERLAND

SUTHERLAND’S MIDWIFERY team has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award to be announced next year.

Mary Burnside, midwifery manager for NHS Highland’s North and West Operational Unit is delighted the team has been shortlisted for the Royal Col-lege of Midwifery’s Team of the Year.

She said: “This is a small team of midwives who go the extra mile to maintain high standards of quality and safety in the care they provide. They have really impressed with their hard work and commitment.

“They provide a midwifery service to women living across a vast remote and rural geographical area, working hard to ensure equal access to care and services for women living remotely. They also continually review working models to ensure sustainability of the midwifery service in the remote and rural setting.”

The team have been praised for a number of achievements including taking the lead on organising and providing emergency obstetric and maternity care training / skills drills for the multi-disciplinary primary care team; coordi-nating care for high risk cases in a re-mote area with local GPs, ambulance service and the consultant obstetrician service in Inverness; and the develop-ment of a local “unplanned birth” proto-col in collaboration with GP, nursing and ambulance service colleagues to support team working and ensure women have the support and expertise of a midwife in attendance.

Frances Arrowsmith, midwifery team leader for the Sutherland area, has commended the team for always putting the women in their care first.

She said: “The team are always look-ing at new ways to find out what local women want, their needs and how we can support them.

“They have a discussion group with

local women, have sent out question-naires and also manage a local Facebook page where women can make com-ments and suggestions.”

Frances continued: “The team have also led the way with implementing hyp-nobirthing classes in their area. Evalua-

tion of this service has been very posi-tive and the Sutherland team have been instrumental in enabling these classes to be made available across NHS Highland so that all women can benefit.”

The awards will be presented in London in March 2017.

THE HIGHLAND Hospice wants to extend its Helping Hands service so that more palliative care patients can benefit from company or companion-ship.

Helping Hands was launched last January and is currently delivered in Ross-shire. Helping Hands is a befriend-ing service which provides social and practical support to people affected by advancing illness within their own homes. As each client is different, the help and support offered is tailored to their individual needs.

For some this might be keeping them company or going out on trips, while for others the support enables their family carers to have time to themselves knowing their loved one is being well looked after. At the core of the service is a real connection with volunteers so that the clients and their families wants and needs are met.

Now the Highland hospice is looking to extend this service throughout the Highlands depending on the needs of each area.

For further information contact: s.smith@highlandhospice.org.uk or go to the Facebook page: https://w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /HighlandHospiceHH/

‘Impressive’ midwifery team shortlisted for national award

Pictured (left to right) - Gwen Gould, community midwife; Frances Arrows-

mith, midwifery team leader; Brenda Irving, community midwife; Claire Arm-

strong, community midwife; and Hayley Duff, community midwife

HIGHLAND HOSPICE

Helping hands rollout

- 18 -

SIX NURSES on the Isle of Skye were honoured with awards from Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland for their long service and dedica-tion to the local community.

On a visit to Skye on 2nd December, Clare Cable, chief executive and nurse director of the Queen’s Nursing Insti-tute Scotland (QNIS) took the opportu-nity to meet many of the community nurses who currently work on the is-land and to present QNIS Long Service Awards.

The long service awards are given by QNIS in recognition of Nursing and Midwifery Council registered nurses who have reached 21 years service in the community.

The awards are for nurses who have worked in any nursing role in the community including: midwifery, health visiting, practice nursing, criminal justice, occupational health, community mental health, district nursing, community psy-chiatric and community hospital nursing.

Clare said: “Excellent care is deliv-ered by excellent nurses, in the every-

day extraordinary things that they do to support people in their homes and com-munities.

“We rarely stop to acknowledge the contribution - day in, day out - of staff on the frontline. The afternoon in Skye was one of those rare opportunities and

it was an honour to be here. On behalf of the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scot-land, – I say thank you to each of you for proudly carrying the torch for excel-lent community care, through the good times and the challenges.”

QNIS AWARDS

Skye nurses honoured for their

dedication to the community

Pictured here (left to right): Carol Cable, CEO for QNIS; Lesley MacDonald, Community Nurse (CN); Carol Urbanowicz (CN); Rhona Beaton (CN); Moira MacLeod (Community Psychiatric Nurse – CPN); Morag Redshaw (CPN); Susan

...And students also honoured TWO NURSES from NHS High-land have been recognised for their dedication to community nursing and received academic awards from the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland.

The awards are given to outstanding students who promote excellence in community nursing.

Patricia Thomas (48) from Nairn works as a district nurse and is also studying for a postgraduate diploma in health and wellbeing with the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Patricia said: “I was pleased to re-ceive the award. The course material has taken me out of my comfort zone of nursing and has given me the opportu-nity of looking at other broader topics

such as green spaces.” Tony Clapham (47) lives in Roy

Bridge. He works as a community learn-ing disabilities nurse in Fort William and is also studying for a MA health and wellbeing with the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Speaking about the award, Tony said: “Receiving this award was humbling and an unexpected honour. As a learn-ing disabilities nurse, a core part of my role is to identify and find ways to re-solve the sometimes unexpected addi-tional healthcare needs that my patients are more likely to experience.

“My studies have helped me to look into these challenges to their health in greater depth and to share that knowl-edge with others. I am grateful for the

encouragement I have received from teaching staff at the University of the Highlands and Islands in helping me achieve this.”

The Queen’s Nursing Institute Scot-land is a charity which promotes excel-lence in community nursing to improve the health and well-being of the people of Scotland. Pat Tyrrell, deputy director of nursing and midwifery within NHS Highland, is a QNIS trustee.

Patricia Thomas (left) and Tony Clapham

- 19 -

A FACEBOOK campaign by a Sutherland nurse calling for local people with knitting skills to help out patients with dementia has proved a great success.

Audrey Hepburn - one of Lawson Memorial Hospital’s dementia champi-ons – was so impressed when the family of a patient brought in a knitted hand warmer known as Twiddlemuff, she launched an appeal on her social media page for more to be made.

Audrey saw for herself how the in-expensive Twiddlemuff – the idea origi-nally came from America - helped her patient at the Golspie hospital appear less agitated and calmer.

After finding out that the Twiddle-muff was made from leftover wool and ‘bits and bobs’, she asked local knitters on her Facebook page at the end of last month to make more for patients on the Cambusavie Ward.

Audrey was soon inundated with offers of help, with hundreds of online shares and the campaign has been so

successful, she met Gail Ross MSP to outline the benefits Twiddlemuffs bring to patients with dementia.

Audrey said: “I first became aware of Twiddlemuffs a couple of months ago. The family of one of our patient brought one in. It had ribbons on it. The woman who made it had heard about it on the internet.

“A Twiddlemuff is a knitted tube that you can put your hands in, and has things like buttons and ribbons securely sewed on it so that you can twiddle with them.

“It’s beneficial because people with dementia (and other cognitive impair-ments) often have restless hands and like to have something to keep their hands occupied. A Twiddlemuff is a great source of visual, tactile and sen-sory stimulation, and keeps hands snug and warm at the same time.”

Audrey is delighted about the re-sponse to her Facebook page.

She said: “It was such a good idea, I thought it would be great to make more people aware of them. So I put it on Facebook, and I’ve had interest from people in Lanarkshire, Glasgow, and all over the Highlands.

“It’s exciting. Lots of folk have started to send the Twiddlemuffs they’ve made to us. I just got one from a lady, one of my neighbours, and there

are plenty of other people - staff here in the hospital, their neighbours, folk in Seaforth House, family members of our patients, and even the knitting circle at the Brora Hub - all making them for us.”

Once they receive the Twiddlemuffs, staff at Cambusavie look them over to make ensure nothing could pose a risk, e.g. loose threads, buttons or ribbons, before giving them to patients. The board is currently putting together a

health and safety protocol on similar lines to ensure that patients across Highland will be able use the Twiddle-muffs safely.

Twiddlemuffs can even be custom-ised and made specific to the individuals that use them.

She said: “What you put on it can help them to trigger memories. Some can have laminated pictures, plastic keys and even wee baby shoes on them.

They also help to keep patients warm. She said: “As winter approaches another good thing about the Twiddle-muff is that when some people are cold, it makes sure they are warm enough.”

She said that in many ways the Twid-dlemuff acts like a comforter, adding that: “With some patients, they may prefer something larger, more like a blanket,” she said.

Facebook knitting campaign

keeps patients’ hands warm

DEMENTIA CARE

They can be customised and made spe-cific to the individuals that use them

Twiddlemuffs help patients stay calmer and less agitated

Twiddlemuffs are washable. Just put them in a pillow case or laundry bag and pop them in the washing machine

- 20 -

A TEAM of specialists at Lorn and Isles District General Hospital in Oban have been recognised with a Highland Quality Award.

The Audiology team have developed referral pathways for patients with men-tal ill health and dementia after estab-lishing links between hearing loss and cognitive decline.

The HQA recognition follows on the heels of the team scooping the top team award in the Scottish Healthcare Awards 2016 last month.

Audiology team manager Drew Fer-guson, said: “Hearing loss is unusual as it crosses health, social care and educa-tion. It is often treated as a worrying lifestyle issue rather than a health con-cern that has a heavy cost burden to the individual and society as whole.

“One in six people will have a hear-

ing loss at some point in their life, which is 10 million people in Britain, and onset of hearing loss will be in the top 10 dis-ease burdens in the UK – above cata-racts and diabetes – by 2030, according to the World Health Organisation.

“There is a clear link between hear-ing loss and accelerated cognitive de-cline. As a result, we have taken the lead in integrating referral pathways between audiology and mental health and dementia teams across the area.

“This has been achieved by arranging meetings with consultants and their teams over an 18-month period. These referral routes will provide earlier iden-tification of hearing loss and should pro-vide better outcomes for these patients, providing considerable future cost sav-

ings to the NHS in the future.” The team also received a £2,000

grant from the Health and Wellbeing Fund to create a DVD for audiology to explain hearing loss and the benefits of hearing aids.

This is now distributed to every hearing impaired patient in Argyll, along with a new hearing aid fitting package to help mitigate future health issues.

Drew continued: “We are delighted be recognised for our work over the last 18 months; however we are just getting started. I am proud of the team for taking the lead on this project and we will continue to develop close work-ing relationships with mental health and dementia teams throughout Argyll and across Highland in the future.”

Audiology team scoop another

award for referral pathway work

HIGHLAND QUALITY AWARD

‘

’

We are de-

lighted be rec-

ognised for our

work over the

last 18 months;

however we

are just getting

started

NHS Highland chair David Alston (standing far right) with the award winning audiology team based at Lorn and Isles District General Hospital in Oban

- 21 -

HIGHLAND HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY

Citrix not citrus

Remember, whatever your needs the Highland Health Sciences Library exists to help you. Save time and money. Don’t spend more than 10 minutes on a problem you may be having – contact the library instead. To find out more about the library call 01463 255600 (x7600).

REGULAR READERS will know that the Librarian has had many incarnations dur-ing his career – Eton scholar, gardener, chef, sound engineer, polar explorer, and, of course, librarian.

In the dark recesses of the hours before dawn he often ponders: Do we need specialist terms for librarian these days? Should we be call-ing ourselves information specialists, knowledge brokers or some other term? An appeal to the reader – what do you think?

Anyway back to the article in hand. The Librarian has had a long interest in health. His earliest dabblings concerned looking at pat-terns of illness. This interest continued through into the postgraduate study of librarianship. Here, he developed an interest in consumer health information.

After graduating the Librarian helped set up and catalogue the Health Promotion Library of NHS Highland. This used to be based at the old nurses home at the RNI, but has since re-located to Beechwood.

During his time at Health Promotion, the librarian became involved in the long standing “5-a-day campaign” (fruit and veg – not drinks or cigarettes) particularly in relation to the promotion of the use of more citrus fruit in the diet.

Always a foodie, the Librarian was intrigued by the word ‘Citrix’ when he heard it used in a particularly interesting meeting on inter-organisational communications he was attend-ing.

Was this a new term for citric acid? More health promotion work? His ears pricked up - well, yes and no.

The Librarian tries hard to comprehend the IT world, so after disappointingly ruling out a food connection, he found out that Citrix is software which allows computers running on one network to securely access another net-work. It is used a lot by the NHS.

Still in food mode (MR KIPLING!!!) the Librarian thought that this could be exceeding useful to all the NHS patrons who constantly appear at the door of his inner sanctum asking

can they connect to the NHS network from the Library.

The Librarian has, therefore, held some meetings with his NHS IT colleagues and the upshot of these is that the Library training room now has Citrix installed on all of the PCs.

Testing has been carried out and training sessions have been successfully delivered out in the room.

So if you wish to come into the Library you can now use the machines in the Training Room to connect into your NHS resources.

Further developments may be in the future as at another meeting the Librarian came across the concept of “dual booting”.

This is apparently, not a euphemism for a good kicking, or a scene from one of the crime novels held in our Honesty Library, but rather is another IT technique which may be of use in enhancing our services – the Librarian investi-gates - and will report back.

The Librarian’s idea of Citrix Image courtesy: Lloyd K. Barnes Photography.

The Inner Sanctum door Image courtesy: Casa Batlló

- 22 -

OTHER LIVES

Synchro

swimmer

wins silver

after just

11 months

training

Ever wondered what our staff do in their spare time? ‘Other Lives’ reports on colleagues’ outside interests

running a marathon while holding your breath underwater.”

Vicky wasn’t able to get a huge amount of pool time for training but was set challenges by her coach such as stamina sets, achieving splits, and being able to swim a length underwater.

She said: “I was a solo competitor and had to do two routines, a technical one which has re-quired elements that the judges mark and a free routine which allows more imagination.

“The longest routine was 2 ½ minutes and at no time are you allowed to touch the bottom or sides of the pool.

“It’s a fabulous sport. It’s great for fitness, imagination, flexibility, stamina and strength and both men and women can do it. It’s also a lot of fun. I’m still on a high from the competition and it’s really improved my confidence.”

In Nairn, where Vicky coaches, they have about 16 swimmers in total. Vicky teaches the youngest group for seven year olds and upward.

She said: “We train three times a week and do a mixture of working to music, stamina work and positions etc. Sometimes its like herding worms with the younger swimmers! Coaching has helped develop my patience and it is ex-tremely rewarding.

“We are a vibrant club and are always looking for new members both young and old. If anyone is interested in this as a sport, either for them-selves or for their children, please get in touch via our website.”

NOT EVERYONE can say that after just 11 months of training they successfully won a silver medal in a top flight UK competition, but Vicky Doughty can.

Vicky’s journey to taking second place in this year’s Amateur Swimming Association Na-tional Master Championships in Synchronised Swimming began after words of encouragement from a synchro judge around this time last year.

And that’s how the pre-treatment superin-tendent radiographer based in Radiotherapy at Raigmore Hospital found herself at the champi-onships held at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Centre in Rugby this November.

She said: “I used to do synchronised swim-ming but stopped when I went to university.

“I became a synchro coach about four years ago for Nairn synchronised swimming club and at one of our competitions was encouraged to do the UK Masters. “I am conditioned in all the principles, but the main challenges were my fitness levels, flexibility and breath control. Synchro can be likened to

Above: Vicky receiving her silver

medal from the Mayor of Rugby

‘ ’

Synchro can be lik-ened to running a marathon while hold-ing your breath un-derwater.

Inset: Vicky Doughty, top flight syn-chronised swimming competitor

- 23 -

What does your job in-volve, Ella? Monthly meetings to discuss relevant issues brought to us by patients. Various speakers come along to keep us in-formed of new initiatives or matters concerning patients’ welfare. I take part in cleanli-ness audits, menu changes and patients questionnaires as well as participating in com-mittees such as car parking. How would you describe yourself? Elderly, fairly fit, usually very busy but not very organised. As my friends would tell you I have a rather twisted sense of humour and inclined to be a bit cheeky. Do you have and hobbies and interests? I play bridge quite badly but enjoy it. I love to travel, espe-cially cruising or yearly trips to Las Vegas.

I like craft work and my church is also very important to me. I have two sons who, with the help of their wives, have provided me with six adorable grandchildren who fortu-nately do not have any of my traits. What was the first single you ever bought? I Believe by Frankie Laine. What is your favourite food? Lemon sole. And how about your favourite film? Gone with the Wind.

And TV programme? Casualty. Finally, what’s your fa-vourite book? Any book by Jodi Picoult. If you won £10 million in the lottery, what would you spend it on? I would buy a house for each of my grandchildren, invite all my friends on a cruise and give the rest to charity. What about a smaller sum; say £1,000? A family meal at Rocpool Reserve. If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be and what would you cook them? The Queen, Roger Moore and Andy Murray. I would

have to order food to be delivered as I would be too over-come to cook at all. What are your pet hates? Litter on the streets, chewing gum all over the pavements and to hear youngsters using foul language What are the best and worst things about your job? I love having been involved with patients’ council since the beginning and see all the changes that have happened – es-pecially the sandwiches made in-house now.

I feel so sorry for the staff who generally are so very busy and still manage to do such an amazing job.

A & Q

THIS MONTH: Raigmore Hospital Patients

Council Representative:

Ella Low